The 12th Annual Conference of the Washington Ornithological Society Port Angeles, Washington September 15 - 17, 2000

The 12th Annual WOS Conference was held at the Red Lion Inn in Port Angeles, who provided good to excellent food and accommodations.  The beautiful views of the Port Angeles Harbor were marred somewhat by a noisy and smelly series of jet ski races throughout the weekend, but that was about the only sour note for the conference.  It was excellently organized, the field trips were very successful, and even if few rare/notable birds were spotted, everyone seemed to enjoy the birding and the companionship.

Port Angeles is nestled between the Straits of San Juan de Fuca and Olympic National Park's Hurricane Ridge and served as an ideal base for a variety of excellent birding opportunities. The weather was possibly too nice, such that the hoped-for variety of interesting migrants and vagrants failed to turn up.  But the On-Top-of-the-World experience of the Hurricane Ridge trip on Saturday made up for that:

Field Trips

Sequim Bay and Dungeness Spit - Saturday:  This trip (I don't know about Sunday's) never made it as far as Dungeness Spit.  But that was fine because of the number and variety of out-of-the-way spots that were hit between Sequim and the Three-Crabs restaurant.  A huge species count was tallied through visiting these diverse habitats, illustrating the richness of the lowlands.

Port Angeles Harbor and Ediz Hook - Sunday:  A beautiful Peregrine Falcon posing at the very tip of the Hook at the Coast Guard station highlighted the tour of the Harbor and Hook.  A stop at the mouth of the Elwha River was an added treat.

Hurricane Ridge and Heart o' the Hills - Saturday and Sunday:  Saturday's trip got above the clouds for a rapturous experience for all.

Elwha River - Saturday:  Not the highest species count, but excellent leaders and a great location made for a great experience.

Clallam Bay and Western Estuaries - Sunday:  This long trip was made worthwhile by great birding.

Talks and Presentations

See you next year in the Columbia Gorge!   And read about the 1999 WOS Conference.